US lawmakers approve expanded stem cell research

The Democratic-controlled US House of Representatives approved a bill on Thursday to lift the current limits on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. Lawmakers voted 253-174 in favour of the bill, largely along party lines. But the president says he will veto any resulting legislation.

"Today, by passing legislation to expand stem cell research, the House gave voice to the hopes of more than 100 million Americans and their families," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, citing the promise of such research to help people with a number of diseases, including diabetes and cancer.

The US Senate is expected to vote on an identical version of the new House measure within weeks. But the president says he will veto any resulting bill that would loosen funding restrictions, arguing that embryonic stem cell research is unethical and immoral because it involves destroying human embryos.

Alternative proposal

"The president will certainly veto the legislation if it comes to his desk because it would compel all American taxpayers to pay for research that relies on the intentional destruction of human embryos for the derivation of stem cells," said spokesman Tony Fratto.

The president decided on 9 August 2001 to ban federal financing of research with new lines of stem cells from human embryos. As a result, taxpayer dollars now only support studies on colonies of cells derived from embryos before that date.

House Republicans have said they will offer a proposal to instead boost federal funding for new research in amniotic non-embryonic stem cells. They pointed to a US study published on Sunday showing that such stem cells derived from amniotic fluid could offer similar potential to those taken from embryos (see Amniotic fluid supplies repair kit for later life).

Despite their strong majority, the Democrats may not have enough Republican allies backing the measure to muster the two-thirds majority need to override a presidential veto in both chambers of Congress.

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